SC Adventure #1

 

Dave and I have started a new adventure challenge.  For Christmas he received a set of scratch off adventure cards for the state of SC.  If any of you know Dave, he is very much into adventure lists!  Well, at least Santa knew that he would do it with me!

The box of cards is from Reach International Outfitters and each one has a city listed with some details about what the adventure will be, like outdoors, any time of year, and money signs to give an idea of how much it will cost.  Then you scratch it off and you go on an adventure.  

The first one we picked was one that could be done year round and was close by...Harleyville.  The Francis Beidler Forest, a swamp, is in Harleyville and was a 1 $ card.  On the way there we stopped in the town of Harleyville at the local Ace hardware store.  We found some things to buy!  The town itself is small, but has some nice looking houses.  There was a sewing store and a Chinese restaurant open, but the neat looking bakery was closed that day.  So sad.

It was a sunny day!

We got to the park and after a picnic, we got ready to go to the boardwalk.  It normally costs $12 to enter, but this day was a free admission day.  We got lucky!

The walk through the swamp was an interesting one.  Since it was January, the trees were mostly leafless and we didn't see too many birds.  But we did see two owls, one that was close to the boardwalk.

The swamp itself is the world's largest old-growth cypress-tupelo swamp forest.  At one spot, we saw a bald cypress that is almost 1000 years old.  

The only other wildlife we saw was a turtle and geckos.  It was a nice day to hang out together enjoying the great weather.  One adventure down.  49 to go!

      

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Christmas 2025 was wonderful and full of good times with family!  We packed in a lot of fun and as I enter the new year, I am tired but have a full grateful heart!

Dave and I started the Christmas fun with getting a tree and decorating the house.  Well, I decorated the house, but Dave did help with the tree and getting the decorations down from the attic!

We got into the Christmas spirit by going to the Dock Street to see the Christmas Carol.  This was preceded by a fun dinner at Blind Tiger to enjoy their Christmas decorations.  

Another night we tried to see the CofC lights, but only were able to see one of the many JOY signs in Charleston!

We reached the week of Christmas and my mom came down Dec. 23.  Mom, Camden and I went downtown to see the American Gardens and she was able to try the best Reuben at Tommy Condon's!

You can't go downtown Charleston at Christmas without going to Charleston Place!

American Gardens

Christmas Eve was when we got more family in town!  Dave's parents came down and we all went to Poogan's Porch for lunch, walked around downtown and went to Charleston Place again!

Nathan got home that afternoon and we all were able to go to the Christmas Eve service at Charleston Baptist and exchange presents that evening.

ChatGPT made our church picture more impressive!

The boys got college rivalry PJ's this year!

Dave's parents had to leave after Christmas Eve celebrations, but we still had mom and Nathan with us for Christmas day.  We got to sleep in, eat breakfast and then open presents.  After a walk on the greenway, we had lunch and enjoyed hanging out until Nathan had to leave for Columbia.

The day after Christmas was get everything ready for a shrimp fry with my sister's family coming in from Memphis.  They arrived and added 6 more people to our house.  It was crowded, but fun.  Lots of laughs, games and towel washing!  We also went downtown, shopped on King Street, looked at Charleston Place, got coffee and dessert, and checked out American Gardens.  

On Sunday we headed to Columbia for the Storeys to see Nathan and exchange our last presents.  We had fun hanging out and having family time at Grammie's house.

Monday was our mountain day!  We hiked to the top of Looking Glass Rock.  It was a hard hike for most of us, but we took it slow and made it to the top.  The view was exceptional!

After getting home late Monday night and working on Tuesday, we had one last family fun day on New Year's Eve.  We went to see the Angel Oak on John's Island (Camden has never been and this seemed a good adventure for us!) and had lunch at Freshfield's on Kiawah.  

Camden left us for hanging out with his friends, so we watched a movie and then waited for the ball to drop!  Dave did need to be woken up at midnight to see it!  

It had been an awesome Christmas season!  Time with family is the best present of all!  Now to start a new year!